The Australian Community Psychologist - APS Member Groups

Same-sex parents
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interstate or overseas.
Kim and Sally. Kim (41) and Sally (42)
have been in a relationship for 19 years. They
have a daughter Chloe, who at the time of the
study was 2 years and 8 months. Chloe was
conceived through in vitro fertilisation using a
known sperm donor who is a friend of Kim and
Sally. Sally is the birth mother of Chloe, after
unsuccessful attempts for Kim to conceive.
Both mothers are listed on Chloe’s birth
certificate, a legal right they actively
campaigned for. Chloe is aware of the identity
of her biological father; however he is not
involved in parenting decisions and does not
have a ‘traditional’ paternal role. Sally does not
have contact with her family of origin, but she
reports a very close and supportive relationship
with Kim’s family of origin.
Jemma and Mandy. Jemma (34) and
Mandy (45) have been in a relationship for
eight years. They have a daughter Kylie, who at
the time of the study was two years old. Kylie
was conceived using intracytoplasmic sperm
injection (ICSI) using Mandy’s brother’s sperm
and Jemma as the birth mother. Jemma has a
“tense relationship” with her family of origin,
who have difficulty recognising Mandy as
Kylie’s mother. It was therefore important to
Jemma and Mandy that they were both
biologically related to their child, and they
subsequently approached Mandy’s brother for
sperm donation. Both mothers are listed on
Kylie’s birth certificate. Mandy’s brother has
signed away his legal rights, except in the event
he perceives Kylie to be at risk of harm, and
now fulfils the role of uncle to Kylie.
Karen and Fiona. Karen (33) and Fiona
(46) have been in a relationship for five years.
They have a daughter, Megan, who at the time
of the study was 2 years and 6 months old.
Fiona is the birth mother to Megan, who was
conceived using an anonymous sperm donor,
through the process of IVF. Both mothers are
listed on Megan’s birth certificate. Karen and
Fiona are planning to have further children
using the same donor with Karen as the birth
mother. Both Karen and Fiona report having
very supportive families of origin, although
Fiona’s family lives overseas.
Carla and Heidi. Carla (44) and Heidi
(45) have been in a relationship for two years.
Carla has five biological children. Four of
Carla’s children were conceived in previous
heterosexual relationships (Tina, 27, Georgina,
24, Daniel, 20 and Jessica, 18). Mike (6 years,
10 months) was conceived during a previous
lesbian relationship using donor insemination.
Mike does not have any contact with Carla’s
former partner and currently lives with Carla
and Heidi. Daniel also lives on the family
premises. At the beginning of Carla and Heidi’s
relationship, Carla describes how she was
primarily Mike’s parent and Heidi was her
partner, however over time Heidi has taken on
the role of joint parent. Mike has Aspergers
disorder, and prefers a regimented daily routine,
which Heidi describes as being a hard learning
process. Both Carla and Heidi feel they have
supportive families of origin, and practical
support from Carla’s older children.
The mean age of participants was 43
years, and the mean relationship duration was
8.5 years, range 2 to 19 years. Of the five
children living under the care of their lesbian
parents at the time of the study, three were
daughters and two were sons. All participants
were of working socioeconomic status.
Qualifications held by participants varied from
high school education to postgraduate
University studies. All participants were
Caucasian.
Materials
A semi-structured interview schedule was
used and was based in part on the questions
adopted in previous studies by Golding (2006)
and Litovich and Langhout (2004). The
interview schedule consisted of open ended
questions, as this allowed for a topic to be
raised by the interviewer, but did not suggest
how the participant should respond, thus giving
the participant the opportunity to discuss the
topic in their own words (Liamputtong & Ezzy,
2007).
The Australian Community Psychologist Volume 23 No 2 August 2011
© The Australian Psychological Society Ltd